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Families of seriously ill children say they are being forced to park more than a kilometre away from Brisbane’s Lady Cilento hospital and walk because they can’t afford to pay the car parking fees charged at the hospital.

The hospital car park, which is owned and run by Mater Health Services, charges $12 for 30 minutes parking, or $30 for a day, rates Ipswich mother Kat McGowan says are exorbitant.

Ms McGowan’s three-year-old son Patrick Ryan has haemophilia, a blood clotting disorder, which means he is treated at Lady Cilento hospital up to 20 times a year, often for days or weeks at a time.

Ms McGowan told nine.com.au that she generally avoided parking at the hospital at all costs, but the closest free street spaces were often about a kilometre and a half away.

“I don’t park my car there. I simply can’t afford it. If I know that we’re going to be in for a while then I’ll either get a lift, or put my car in the free parking and walk – with Paddy in the pram - or I’ll call an ambulance because they’ll drive me in,” she said.

Kat McGowan with Patrick and her fiance - Patrick's father Leigh Ryan.

Although there was some metered parking on the streets around Lady Cilento - Queensland’s only public children’s hospital - it was “notoriously busy”, and visitors to the hospital often resorted to parking in drop off zones, she said.

The car parking situation added to the stress she felt when she had to rush Patrick to the emergency department, she said.

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“If ever you have to present to emergency with a bleed or a high fever you are always concerned that are you going to be there forever. How much is parking going to cost?” she said.

Ms McGowan, who has started an online petition protesting about the car parking fees, said there were hundreds of families who were all in the same boat.

Mother Catherine Murdoch, whose six-year-old son Micah is battling Leukaemia for the second time, told nine.com.au she also avoided parking at Lady Cilento hospital because of the costs.

Micah and his family are currently staying at a Childhood Cancer Support house, a kilometre away from Lady Cilento, and the Murdochs did a drop off and walked the distance for his hospital appointments, rather than driving, she said.

“We are a kilometre away at the unit but Micah is unable to tolerate long walk as he’s still weak,” she said.

“It’s hard when I'm alone because they have 20min parking free at the front but then I have to transfer somewhere so I don't get fees. And of course, I can't just easily leave the little man on his own.”

“All of the families involved have same trouble. So many of us.”

Catherine Murdoch and her son Micah, who has Leukaemia.

Ms McGowan’s petition has been signed more than 1000 times since yesterday, and a similar petition posted by Justine Christerson protesting car parking fees at all Queensland public hospitals in March attracted more than 16,000 signatures.

The cries for help come after 14-year-old Gidon Goodman, who has a rare blood disorder, forced the NSW government to cave in earlier this year and cut the cost of parking at public hospitals by about $200 a week.

Ms Christerson told nine.com.au the situation in Queensland was more complicated than in NSW because most of the hospital car parks were privately owned.

Ultimately the Queensland Government needed to introduce legislation that would make it mandatory for Queensland Health to provide concessional parking to hospital visitors, she said.

Ms Christerson said she planned to personally deliver her petition to Queensland Health Minister Cameron Dick with a hand written letter when she had 20,000 signatures.

Nine.com.au has contacted both Mr Dick and Mater Health Services for comment, but is yet to receive a response.

A spokesman for Children’s Health Queensland said in a statement that families experiencing financial hardship may be eligible for parking assistance which is arranged a team of social workers.

“Children’s Health Queensland has a policy for concessional car parking of $15 per day for parents, carers and families, where there is evident financial or social need,” the statement said.